Giants-Redskins: A look ahead to season opener

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerThe Giants' battered defense needs Antrel Rolle and the safeties to play big, starting with Sunday's regular-season opener against the Redskins.

You know the drill: in-season Fridays mean our game previews in the blog. They’re not a comprehensive study of the matchup or the most important things to watch, just factors we haven’t or won’t get to that sometimes slip through the cracks.

It’s also a place for all of you to drop your predictions and thoughts on the game. So let’s go.

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SUNDAY’S GAME: at Washington Redskins, 4:15 p.m., FedEx Field, FOX

MATCHUPS TO WATCH

Offense: It has to be C David Baas and Gs David Diehl and Chris Snee working against Redskins NT Barry Cofield. Earlier this week, Cofield told me he has the advantage because he’s been practicing against the Giants’ defense while the Redskins’ 3-4 scheme is relatively new.

But hey, it’s also new for Cofield, who has been playing in a 4-3 since the Giants drafted him in 2006. No big deal, he says.

“I love it. It’s just a mentality in my opinion,” he said. “I think it’s a little bit overblown. People think you’re a nose tackle and you have to weigh this and do this. But they come in all different shapes and sizes. You’ve got guys like (the Cowboys’) Jay Ratliff who played sometimes at 300 pounds or less and you have the mammoth space eaters. We’re all different shapes and sizes.”

I’d say the 6-4, 306-pound Cofield is somewhere between the long, lean guys and the “space eaters.” But he’s also quick, so Baas had better have his assignments down pat. He’s been much better than he was early in camp and the preseason, though this will be the first time he’ll see some exotic looks. And we all know Cofield can get on a center quickly.

“I’m still going to use the things I learned playing alongside talented guys like ‘Stray’ (Michael Strahan) and Osi (Umenyiora) and (Justin) Tuck,” Cofield said. “I’m going to try to blend that into the things I learned under Coach (Mike) Waufle and Coach (Robert) Nunn and mix that with the tings I’m learning from Coach (Jacob) Burney and Jim Haslett. It’s the best of both worlds, like a hybrid.”

Defense: The more I’ve thought about how things have gone for the Giants’ defense of late, with all the injuries, the more I can’t help but think it’s on the safeties to really pick this unit up. To be honest, with CB Terrell Thomas down while Tuck and Umenyiora have their medical issues, the safeties are probably the strength of the D right now. That means they flat-out have to make plays. And S Antrel Rolle really needs to have a big season.

By that, I mean he must create havoc down in the box and in the backfield while taking care of his responsibilities back deep. He can’t have the mental lapses he had late last season when he allowed the Packers’ Jordy Nelson to run past him for an 80-yard TD and then got beat by Redskins WR Anthony Armstrong for a 64-yard score on a simple route inside him on a simple Cover-2 defense.

So in regard to this game and the Giants’ likely desire to slow the game down and win with their running game (as they often have against the Redskins over the past few years), the Giants can’t allow big plays. So watch Rolle and see if he can make sure Armstrong doesn’t sneak past him for a deep ball.

ONE MORE THING: Tuck joked he’s going to steal Cofield’s “Don’t Tase me, Bro” sack dance. Really? “Absolutely not," Tuck said, adding: "I might do it and then stop like the batteries ran out on my taser and the tase didn’t work.”

Of course, that’s assuming Tuck will play, which Perry Fewell said would be a “bonus.” Newsday’s Tom Rock joked Tuck could use the electroshock therapy of Cofield’s sack dance and Tuck quipped back, “I know. I need the taser.”